T.A. 2950
Eriador Eriador remains largely empty and desolate, except for the Shire and the Bree-land. Tharbad, last great city of the northern lands, was ruined and abandoned after the floods that followed the Fell Winter. Angmar Arthedain Breeland In the Barrow Downs, evil spirits still haunt tombs that absolutely nobody has visited in centuries, while in the nearby Old Forest Tom Bombadil sings and laughs, as he waits for the stars to be right. The Shire In the Shire, Fortinbras Took has been Thain for five years now and is starting his thirtieth year of rather unhappy marriage with Lalia Clayhanger. It is noteworthy that hobbits do not feel quite as safe in their lifestyle these days as they will a generation later, seeing that the Fell Winter of thirty three years ago with its horrific food shortages and white wolf invasion happened within living memory of pretty much every adult in the territory. However, a greater awareness of the possibility of hardship does not mean that hobbits are any more inclined to seek it out. Indeed, Bilbo Baggins and his "adventure" has been the talk of the Shire for over two years now. Cardolan Enedhwaith Dunland Further to the south, the Dunlending clans remain in a permanent state of conflict with each other, combined with some raids that take the braver (and dumber) among them past the borders of Rohan. Isengard Saruman the White has lived in Isengard for several centuries now and his neighbours generally know better than to annoy the master of Nan Curunir, for all that the wizard is nominally a vassal of Gondor (and won't openly declare otherwise for some years yet). Though he is not yet an agent of the Dark Lord and currently leads the White Council, Saruman covets for himself the power of the One Ring and has devoted no small amount of effort to find it over the last decades. Rhudaur The Rangers of the North live in their hidden villages in the Angle of Rhudaur, still doing their ancestral duty to protect what was Arnor from the Shadow, although they have been effectively leaderless for over ten years now, ever since their captain Arathorn was killed by a goblin arrow that hit him in the eye. Rivendell Rivendell, the domain of Elrond Half-Elven, has been for eleven years now the home of a woman called Gilraen and a young boy who is called Estel by the elves. Some years from now, the lord of Imladris will reveal this boy that he is in truth Aragorn, son of Arathorn, who shall one day be King of Arnor and Gondor. Forodwaith Forochel Gondor Turgon, the current Steward, is not particularly old by the standards of his bloodline (89 years old, currently), but he is not even remotely the same vigorous man he was when he ascended to his office thirty years ago. Though there has been no expansion under his rule, Gondor has enjoyed relative prosperity and peace, and a recovery of sorts has taken place in parts of the kingdom that were ravaged by plague or invasion in times past. Moreover, the line of succession seems safe for the time being: the Steward's son, Ecthelion, is an adult of 58 with a son, Denethor, of 14 years. Other figures of note in Gondor include Angelimir, current prince of Dol Amroth, and Thengel, exiled prince of Rohan, who just last year married beatiful Morwen of Lossarnach, after gaining a great deal of honor and wealth in the service of the Steward (service which mostly involved combat against Umbarean corsairs and Haradrim raiders). Morwen has just realized that she is pregnant for a second time. The child she carries will be born in eight months and his name will be Theoden. Haradwaith Near Harad Far Harad Utter South Lindon Cirdan the Shipwright, eldest of the elves of Middle Earth, remains lord of the Grey Havens and Lindon, busy as ever with the construction of ships for those of his kind who finally decide to abandon Middle Earth through the Straight Road. Mordor The Dark Tower is still a ruin, but other than that the Black Land is ready for the return of it's master. For centuries now, Sauron has silently readied his old fortress-kingdom through his Ringwraiths and their fortress of Minas Morgul. In a few years, the Dark Lord will feel strong enough to restore his old seat of power and openly announce his presence to the world. Rhovanion Anduin Vales Lórien Lórien is jointly ruled by Celeborn and Galadriel, where things are much the same as they will be in the time of the War of the Ring, except for the fact that the Lady's grand-daughter, Arwen Undomiel, currently lives in the Golden Forest and will remain there for the better part of a decade yet. Barding Realm Far to the north, the lake-town of Esgaroth has been rebuilt and the by now legendary hero Bard Dragon-slayer is trying to restore the city and kingdom of Dale, under the shadow of Erebor. There have been complications, but the dwarves are amenable and the enormous wealth he was given has done much to increase the activity of old, formerly lethargic trade routes that stretch as far as Dorwinion. Erebor Daín II Ironfoot (not a young dwarf anymore at 177, but vigorous as a youngster half his age) is King-Under-The-Mountain of the restored dwarven realm of Erebor, as well as Lord of the Iron Hills, making him the more or less undisputed sovereign of the Longbeard tribe and the most influential dwarf in western Middle Earth. Though the Lonely Mountain has not fully recovered yet from its long occupation by the dragon Smaug, hints of future splendour can already be glimpsed. Smaller groups of Longbeards that do not directly answer to Daín dwell in the Grey Mountains or remain in the Blue Mountains, in the same halls in which Thorin Oakenshield lived his long exile, along with petty kingdoms of Broadbeams and Firebeards whose stubborn ancestors never left their homelands to join Durin's folk in Khazad-dum. Mirkwood In Mirkwood the Great, Thranduil Oropherion had hoped that the White Council's defeat of the Necromancer in the south of the Forest and the near-annihilation of the goblin host during the Battle of Five Armies would give his people an opportunity to reclaim some of the territory they had lost over the years to the things of the Shadow. He has since been disabused of the notion and, in spite of the best efforts of the elves, many evil things still lurk under the trees of the great northern forest. Rhûn Dorwinion Rhûnaer Palisor Farthest East Rohan Rohan is ruled by old Fengel, son of Folcwine. His has been a long reign (fourty one years and counting) and one his people would like to end as soon as possible. Unlike his much beloved father, Fengel has been a notoriously greedy ruler with little in the way of achievements that may justify the heavy taxes he has set over the years, and his relations with the Marshals of the Mark have been so stormy at points that civil war has seemed a possibility. And though Gondor will do nothing to accelerate the end of Fengel's reign, they will be glad when he goes too, since his possitively mercenary approach to the old alliance disgusts the ruling Steward. Category:Scenario Category:2950 Category:Scenarios